How do you pronounce ephemeral?

The recorded pronunciation is /ɛˈfɛ.mə.ɹəl/.

ephemeral

/ɛˈfɛ.mə.ɹəl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.99 in modern English

Syllables: ephemer-al
IPA: /ɛˈfɛ.mə.ɹəl/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Lasting for a short period of time.

adj

Existing for only one day, as with some flowers, insects, and diseases.

adj

Usually dry, but filling with water for brief periods during and after precipitation.

noun

Something which lasts for a short period of time.

Example Sentences

"1821-1822, Vicesimus Knox, Remarks on the tendency of certain Clauses in a Bill now pending in Parliament to degrade Grammar Schools Esteem, lasting esteem, the esteem of good men, like himself, will be his reward, when the gale of ephemeral popularity shall have gradually subsided."
"sentences not of ephemeral, but of eternal, efficacy"
"It was during an access of this kind that I suddenly left my home, and bending my steps towards the near Alpine valleys, sought in the magnificence, the eternity of such scenes, to forget myself and my ephemeral, because human, sorrows."
"The graben constitutes a depositional basin and a topographic low, underlain by Cretaceous shales, in which volcanic debris accumulated in ephemeral lakes and streams in Oligocene and early Miocene time."

Etymology

From New Latin ephemerus, from Ancient Greek ἐφήμερος (ephḗmeros), the more common form of ἐφημέριος (ephēmérios, “of, for, or during the day, living or lasting but for a day, short-lived, temporary”), from ἐπί (epí, “on”) + ἡμέρα (hēméra, “day”).

Origin

Source language: Ancient Greek

Word Breakdown

Root: ephemerus, ἐφήμερος

Inflected Forms

more ephemeral (comparative) most ephemeral (superlative) ephemerals (plural)

Derived Forms

ephemeralization ephemeralize ephemerally ephemeralness nonephemeral unephemeral

Phrases

bovine ephemeral fever ephemeral fever ephemeral lake ephemeral state spring ephemeral

Frequently Paired Words

ephemera ephemeron ephemerality hemeral intermittent unstable unsteady speedy

Synonyms

temporary transitory fleeting evanescent momentary short-lived short volatile ephemeron earthly ephemeral brief

Antonyms

permanent eternal everlasting timeless lasting perennial persistent